Visit us at vocus.com

\ guideMarketing Cloud

Social Search Email Publicity

iPad 10:15PM

LinkedIn Marketing: A GuideHow to integrate LinkedIn with your marketing strategy and boost your bottom line.

LinkedIn Marketing: A GuideHow to integrate LinkedIn with your marketing strategy and boost your bottom line.

2

LinkedIn Marketing: A GuideMarketing Cloud

LinkedIn Marketing: A GuideHow to integrate LinkedIn with your marketing strategy and boost your bottom line.

Everyone knows LinkedIn as the social network for job networking. But LinkedIn can also boost your bottom line beyond connecting with potential business partners.

LinkedIn recently released a new profile design and set of features for company pages. As an online community comprised solely of professionals, LinkedIn allows B2B marketers access to customers, prospects, press and key thought leaders through a credible platform.

This guide will help you incorporate LinkedIn into your marketing efforts and build thought leader-ship, attract buyers and empower customers to market your services on your behalf—all of which will serve your bottom line.

Building Thought Leadership

To stand out from the competition, it helps to position your company as an industry leader and an expert source of information for interested consumers, even when they’re not making a purchasing decision. When they make a buy-ing decision, potential customers will already be familiar with your company’s expertise.

As a community of professionals, LinkedIn should be a priority platform to establish and strengthen your company’s thought leadership. Here are some ways to do this:

1: LinkedIn Groups

LinkedIn Groups offer a simple way to interact with profes-sionals in your industry. Groups let you participate either as a member or through your own groups.

• Become a member of an existing group. Thou-sands of groups already exist on LinkedIn with topics for just about every industry, field and business. Based on your company profile, LinkedIn will suggest relevant groups. Additionally, you can search for groups using keywords associated with your business. You need approval from a moderator to join a group; this is usually a quick and simple process. Group members

can contribute to discussions, post links, and pose and answer questions within the group. Remember, as with all social media platforms, avoid blatant sales speak and hard sells.

• Create your own group. Creating a group demon-strates thought leadership, and keeps your customers and followers informed of company news and events. It’s a good opportunity to lead discussions around issues of common interest and to report on industry trends.

Let’s take a closer look at how a business might leverage LinkedIn Groups. For our example, let’s use an app company that helps businesses manage time efficiently. It would make sense for this

company to create a group that focuses on time management practices and post

links and videos on best practices and strategies.

This company might also invite business owners from around the community as guest moderators to host forums on chal-lenges they’ve faced with time management and their tips for making the most out of a workday. The group isn’t a sales forum for the app but rather an informational and educational resource for other businesses and potential clients.

1

Marketing Cloud

3

LinkedIn Marketing: A GuideMarketing Cloud

RoLes In A LInkedIn GRoup

owneR: Group creator. Owners have the ability to set the tone for the group by posting articles

and posing questions to members. Providing solid con-tent is a sure way to grow your following and establish yourself (and your company) as an industry leader. Owners can elevate the role of other group members to manager or moderator.

MAnAGeR: Group managers control discus-sions, membership, settings, subgroups, rules

and more. The only difference between a group owner and manager is an owner can close or transfer ownership of the group. Managers share the responsibility of creating the voice of a group.

Sharing industry news in a timely fashion, providing insightful commentary, publishing original content and encouraging discussion among group members are all strategies that managers can employ to develop a com-munity of experts in your LinkedIn group.

ModeRAToR: Group moderators have only the ability to monitor discussions and comments. In

their role, they ensure that the group remains on point and focused on the appropriate industry topic. You don’t want your company page to become home for an Internet troll or spammer. Attentive group moderators are key to maintaining the integrity of your group.

MeMBeR: As a group member, you can post links and contribute to discussions in groups

that relate to your business or industry. This tactic can show you to be an industry leader. By searching for the most relevant LinkedIn groups and regularly offering input, other industry experts will begin to recognize your name.

Do not post blatant sales messages or blast the same comments to all the groups you participate in. You want to build credibility as a real person at a real company with real insight—not a sales-bot.

2: status updates

As with other social networks, LinkedIn allows users to post status updates. However, companies on LinkedIn can now target status updates, allowing them to tailor content for specific audiences. The targeting parameters include; com-pany size, industry, function, seniority and geography. To do this, follow these steps:

• Locate the “Share an update” box on your company page home tab.

• Hover your cursor over “Share with all followers” and select “Targeted Audience.”

• Select the appropriate above-mentioned criteria from each tab.

• At the bottom of the pop-up box, select whether you want to share with employees and non-employees, or strictly non-employees.

note: Any user who actively views your company page can see all status updates. Also you don’t have to target your posts if they’re relevant to all of your audiences.

What kind of status updates should you share on LinkedIn? Status updates allow your company to directly engage viewers and followers of your company page. Consider sharing the following in your status updates:

• Company news• Promotions• Relevant industry articles• YouTube videos• Online news releases• Newsletters

4

LinkedIn Marketing: A GuideMarketing Cloud

Some email marketing providers have integrated with LinkedIn to automatically post links to marketing emails directly on LinkedIn.

As with the status updates you post to other social networks, keep what you share on LinkedIn short, timely and relevant. Also, remember that your LinkedIn audience is comprised of business professionals.

These content strategies will solidify you as a thought leader:

• Share breaking industry news, as well as your reaction and interpretation of that news.

• Are you doing something innovative? Share and solicit feedback from your peers!

• When you welcome aboard new talent, post a short video introducing the new hire, detailing their qualifi-cations. Top talent attracts other top talent—as well as attention from customers and other industry leaders.

• Always post links to your online news releases on LinkedIn. Not only are you sharing your news with potential customers and partners, but reporters moni-toring your sector may spot your release on LinkedIn. Online news distribution services, like PRWeb, give users the option to automatically post news releases to LinkedIn.

• Schedule marketing emails to post on LinkedIn in order to reach professionals and customers who have not signed up to receive your emails.

Let’s return to the time management app company. They are getting ready to

launch a 2.0 version. Scheduling a LinkedIn post that links to the online news release will drive more reads of the release. The company should also post screenshots and demos of the 2.0 interface so current and potential customers can immediately identify what they can expect from the app.

With the recent redesign of the LinkedIn company page, your status updates now appear front and center on your profile. This makes it extremely easy for viewers to read, like, comment and share updates.

You can feature a post at the top of your page. This high-lights important readership—for example, clicking the link that will lead them to an online release.

Don’t be afraid to get interactive with the material you post. Remember, viewers respond best to engaging content that adds value to their experience. Posting infographics, YouTube videos, demos and tutorials are all effective ways to get and keep the attention of LinkedIn viewers—and potential customers.

Attracting and engaging Customers

Many B2B purchasers turn to LinkedIn when making a buying decision. LinkedIn is unlike other social networks in that it is a professional, business-oriented community. So when prospective clients go to LinkedIn, they’re already motivated to hear your message.

How to optimize and leverage your company page to attract customers

To make the most of the new features LinkedIn recently released, it’s important to completely fill out each section. Let’s take a look at the features of the LinkedIn company page and how to get the most out of each one.

1. profile Images: In addition to a small thumbnail that appears at the top of your profile (which is ideal for displaying your company logo), you can also display a banner image to appear in the space directly below.

As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” But perhaps more important when it comes to LinkedIn is that a picture lets viewers SKIP a thousand words and quickly understand the product or service your

2

Marketing Cloud

5

LinkedIn Marketing: A GuideMarketing Cloud

business provides. This is important in a purchasing envi-ronment inundated with options for the buyer.

Keep the following in mind when choosing a visual to display on your company page:

• The image you choose should quickly and clearly communicate what your business offers the viewer.

• Use high quality, high-resolution images to commu-nicate professionalism as well as please viewers aes-thetically. Image resolution is determined by a measure called PPI (pixels per inch). Pixels are the small dots that make up an image. So the more pixels per inch, the higher the resolution and quality of the image. As a rule of thumb, high-resolution images are at least 300 PPI.

• Keep this image evergreen in order to continually attract viewers to your page. Perhaps show your employees at work, customers using your product or use the space to promote big company announcements or offers.

2. products and services: The redesigned company pages on LinkedIn allow you to list and feature your com-pany’s products and services to appear in two locations—under the “Products” tab at the top of your company profile and in the sidebar to the right of the profile. You should upload high-res images of each product or service with a brief description of each.

Past and current customers leave recommen-dations and reviews of your products and

services. As we know, customer recom-mendations and testimonials are of tremendous value in B2B marketing. Don’t forget to ask customers to leave recommendations and reviews on your LinkedIn page. We’ll

discuss effective strategies for doing so in the next section of this paper.

3. About Your Company: Below the “Company Updates” feed you’ll find a section to complete about your business. In this part of your LinkedIn company profile, you should:

• Create a brief description of your business

• List your unique selling points under the “Specialties” heading

• Display your web address to identify quality inbound leads and SEO

• Provide your business’s physical HQ address in full

• Identify the type of company (public or private), when the company was founded and the size of your company

• Select your business’s industry

This section of your company profile is essential. It ensures your business is among the results when viewers search for any corresponding criteria.

4. The Competition: The “Insights” tab at the top of your profile and the “People Also Viewed” section at the bottom of your profile’s right sidebar allow you to see what viewers of your company’s page are looking at on LinkedIn. In other words, you can see what other companies your audience is checking out.

This insight can help determine who your top competitors are and what they do that works—or doesn’t work. You can use this information to create points of differentiation between you and your competitors, and promote those points on your own company page.

Building Reach with Customer evan-gelists and Integrated Marketing

One of the most effective B2B marketing tools at your disposal is customer references and testimonials. This kind of third-party validation speaks volumes to prospective clients and customers.

LinkedIn allows current and past customers to recommend and review your company directly on your company page.

3

6

LinkedIn Marketing: A GuideMarketing Cloud

So viewers—and potential new business— can vet what others think about your company providing critical third party validation..

How can you encourage positive feedback? Here are a few strategies to consider:

• Ask for feedback: If a customer makes a purchase from your website, ask them to provide their feedback

on the post-purchase page. Include a but-ton that links directly to your compa-

ny page on LinkedIn.

Many times in the B2B environ-ment, however, personal relation-ships develop between buyers and sellers. So if a customer or client is pleased with your work,

ask them to recommend your company on LinkedIn.

Remember our app company? Let’s say

one of their customers was able to increase efficiency by 15% using the app software. Hard stats and tangible results make for excellent review fodder. The app company should not only ask the customer to post a review on LinkedIn, but also serve as a guest moderator for one their group discussions.

• show your appreciation: Your business is just one of many organizations and individuals consumers interact with on a daily basis. Offering a discount may not be the best tactic to encourage feedback on LinkedIn. You don’t want prospective customers to think you’ve “paid” for endorsements. You can reward customers in other ways, such as publicly highlighting customer reviews across social channels or in newsletters. When other customers see how much you value feedback, they’ll be more inclined to offer their own.

• don’t stop with your company page! LinkedIn users can endorse individuals for different skills and expertise. All employees, and especially management, should have up-to-date LinkedIn profiles of their

own. This way, customers can endorse members of your team for their good work. Highlighting different employee strengths gives pro-spective customers an idea of how much expertise your business brings to the table. And since you can be certain potential customers will look for the faces behind your brand, it’s best to have those personal profiles developed in addition to your company page.

Integrating LinkedIn with your overall marketing strategy

To make the most of what the network has to offer, publicize and promote your LinkedIn company page through other marketing channels. After all, in order for your presence on the network to be effective, buyers must be aware that your business is on LinkedIn and offering valuable information.

How can you promote your company page outside of LinkedIn and other social media networks? 1. email Marketing Campaigns: As opt-in recipients of your email newsletters, these individuals have already demonstrated interest in receiving information about your company. Devote a newsletter to introducing readers to your company’s presence on LinkedIn. Let them know the type of information they can expect to find on your page, what material you will make available on the network and encourage them to join the discussion by connecting with your brand on the network.

Of course, provide a direct link to your page at the end of the email to make it easy for them to connect with you while it’s fresh in their minds. It’s also a good idea to refer back to your LinkedIn company page in subsequent news-letters to share exclusive new material, such as a video demo, on LinkedIn.

2. Company website: Clearly display the LinkedIn button on your website along with buttons for your other social channels so that visitors to your webpage can easily navigate to LinkedIn.

7

LinkedIn Marketing: A GuideMarketing Cloud

Consider making some information, like certain demos or presentations, available only through LinkedIn, and use relevant keywords on your website to link directly back to your LinkedIn page. If visitors to your website are looking for customer referrals, link to the reviews and recommendations section of your LinkedIn profile.

3. events: Many B2B companies attend tradeshows, conferences and other industry events. Given the targeted audience that attends these shows, they make for an ideal opportunity to promote your LinkedIn page. The redesigned LinkedIn company pages are mobile compatible, so consider strategies like QR codes that people can scan on the go with their tablets and smartphones to lead directly to your LinkedIn page.

next stepsB2B marketing, as with all marketing, is about building rela-tionships based on trust and credibility. As a platform that embraces and facilitates transparent interaction, LinkedIn is the social network of choice for business-to-business.

Use these tactical approaches to build thought leadership, attract buyers and empower customers on behalf of your brand on LinkedIn, boosting your marketing efforts and generating solid results.

About Vocus

Marketing has evolved. To succeed in today’s world, mar-keters need to make digital channels and ensure they work together to generate brand awareness, demand and revenue. Vocus offers a unique solution. Our software integrates pow-erful features of digital marketing, including social, search, email and publicity. It also sends real-time marketing oppor-tunities directly to you in the form of leads, prospects, social media conversations, curated content and media inquiries.

With our marketing consulting and services team ready to help, Vocus delivers marketing success.

Find out more at www.vocus.com

Connect with us:

Marketing Cloud

iPad 10:15PM